I didn’t make it to the village this
past Christmas but I kept in touch with my people, whip
President Obasanjo any which way you like, but thank his
administration for giving Nigerians GSM (pronounced g-i-s-i-m)
mobile phones. It was through the small wonder that I
was able to keep in touch with my folks particularly my
uncle Igwe, Nna Ochie and the patriarch of my
mum’s family who in the course of our discussions
reminded me that I was yet to ‘kill’ the traditional
ewu nwadiana for my mum’s umunna. He reminded
me that since my mother was a member of the revered
Umu Ada, that we should endeavour to include the
ceremony in our plans for the New Year before we earn
ourselves the demeaning description of efulefus.

I love the Igbo tradition but followers and admirers of
the Igbo culture will tell you that Ndigbo have this
thing for goats and cows, particularly goats, an animal
that they do not breed as much, choosing to rely instead
on their Hausa-Fulani brothers from the North to supply
all their protein needs. Probably as a result of oral
tradition (handed down by the elders over the years) but
it would seem that no event in any traditional Igbo
family, kindred or village is complete without a goat or
two, and even a cow being strung on the pole or wire to
hang and roast.

This makes me to wonder how Ndigbo would fare eventually
if their much agitated wishes and desires for a break-up
of Nigeria eventually come through, and the wandering
shepherds of the Hausa-Fulani stock shepherd their rams,
sheep, goats and cows back to the North. Would Ndigbo
still be able to sustain feasts and other omenani
such as igbu ewu nwadiana, ewu umunna,
igba nkwu nwanyi and others where goats play a big
part?

Uncle Igwe meant that it was about time that I visited
the Hausa-Fulani section of Eke Awka for some
four-legged take-away that would be used in the igbu
ewu nwadiana ceremony. There was also a subtle hint
from him that my ‘status’ now required that in place of
ewu, Ishould consider killing a cow
instead as that would be more befitting, not that they
would not gladly accept the goat from me but in the Igbo
tradition, it is assumed that your status (judged on
your ability to afford) should also determine if you
should be let off lightly with a goat, or if you should
be pressed for a cow for your igbu ewu nwadiana
event. Choosing the later may earn you the prestigious
oke nwadiana or nnukwu nwadiana status.

If you read Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart,
you will recall that Okonkwo fled from Umuofia to Mbanta,
his mother’s village after accidentally killing Ezeudu’s
sixteen-year old son at Ezeudu’s funeral, and was to
spend 7 years in exile there. Therefore traditionally
the average Igbo man has always maintained a close
relationship with his mother’s people, as a back-up
should the need arise to flee one’s own village like
Okonkwo did. Though the reasons today may no longer be
as a result of the need to secure a second home in case
of emergencies, however such bonds with one’s maternal
kindred and community are still maintained even if only
to sustain the communal and kindred spirit of the Igbo
culture. To be considered worthy of such privileges
however requires that one performs certain rites, one of
which is the killing of the traditional ewu nwadiana,
after which the person’s status is automatically
elevated to that of nnukwu nwadiana or oke
nwadiana.

Igbu ewu nwadiana
is quite a big feast depending on the size of the
nwadiana’s pocket, and also on the size of his
maternal family. The nwadiana comes along with
his family members and close friends to the feast, and
the ceremony usually takes place in his mother’s main
family compound or obi. If however, the maternal
uncles have all migrated from the main compound to their
own houses which they may have built in the village,
then the ceremony would be held in the compound of the
eldest of his mother’s brothers, uncles or any other
surviving patriarch in his mother’s family. There are
plenty of foods as well as assorted types of drinks on
offer on the day, all provided by the nwadiana.
Blessings are pronounced on the nwadiana by all
the elders present, libation is poured and the spirits
of the dead ancestors are called upon to protect and
prosper him. In the course of the day’s deliberations,
as everyone makes merry, the elders would jokingly
assign a particular project in the village to the
nwadiana, this could range from awarding
scholarships to school children, to the grading of
village roads etc. Such assignments are not meant to be
viewed as compulsory tasks but the nwadiana would
still be expected to help out his maternal family and
village one way or the other where he can.

It is assumed that after the igbu ewu nwadiana
ceremony, the nwadiana would be considered worthy
to share almost equal rights with other children
born in his mother’s village, this also means that he
would be bound by the same local laws and customs,
including being forbidden from taking a wife from
amongst his mother’s kindred. In addition to other
rights, the nwadiana may be allocated a piece of
land for his own use and his mother’s people would no
longer hesitate in slapping his back whenever and
wherever they see him to pronounce the traditional
oga adili gi nma blessing on him, and the Iga aka
cha ibe unu pronunciations, all to the nwadiana’s
slight and humbling bow/prostration wherever he sees his
maternal uncles, cousins and brethren. Women are not
excluded from such privileges, although some modern day
nwadianashave been known in the past to subtlyresist taking such bows or to prostrate before their
female maternal brethren for the traditional back-slap
rituals.

Women born to the woman or daughter are not known to be
active in the igbu ewu nwadiana ceremony; they
may be present but would remain largely quiet. It is
typically a man’s (the woman’s sons) affair although
some other Igbo communities may do this differently.
Even if such daughters are Oke Ada, are more
successful in life and are the ones sponsoring the
event, still they have to remain ‘quiet’. The igbu
ewu nwadiana is simply a symbolic ceremony,
traditionally it was meant to signify a day when
children born by daughters (Umu Ada) from the
community come back to show their appreciation and love
to the mother’s kindred ( Ndi Nna Ochie and
Nne Ochie) through whom they were brought into the
world.

Usually, the ceremony is only performed once by each
family of an Ada from the village, for example if
a daughter from the village or kindred gets married and
goes on to have three sons and two daughters in her
husband’s house, the igbu ewu nwadiana ceremony
would be preformed on behalf of all the woman’s children
on the same day, usually in the name of the eldest son
who is expected to lead his other siblings. The eldest
son may also be sponsored or supported by his younger
brothers and sisters assuming that he is not well to do
financially, but the tradition accords him that
privilege of leading the rest to the event. It is a
one-for-all affair and does not require a repeat
performance, although the nwadiana could always
go back to his mother’s village to feast under other
guises but not in the name of igbu ewu nwadiana
if that had already been done. Also, parents could
sponsor igbu ewu nwadiana on behalf of their
children even while they are still toddlers or in their
teens, that is also acceptable. If in the future the
children feel like going back to their maternal village
for a repeat performance, it is also acceptable but
would be seen as a mere umunna feast, Ndigbo
hardly resist the opportunity to come together to eat
and make merry with each other.

On the issue of ewu and their role in the Igbo
tradition, it is surprising that the poor things are not
yet extinct judging by the way we have been slaughtering
them for our various feasts and traditional ceremonies.
Perhaps the coming generation may not have any left
which they could use for their own igbu ewu nwadiana
and other ceremonies. Maybe someone should propose a
bill at the National Assembly that would place goats on
the endangered species list. Despite the fact that the
Hausa-Fulani goat shepherds are not known to apply any
underhand biological techniques in breeding the goats,
relying largely on the more traditional methods of
grazing and fodder feeding, it still remains one of the
many wonders of this age that goats, rams, sheep and
cows are still available in large numbers in the many
Eke, Nkwo, Orie and Afor
markets in Igboland.

Perhaps the major culprits in the conspiracy against
goats in Igboland are the much revered umunna. No
traditional wedding or other ceremony is complete in
Igbo societies without the provision of the famous
ewu umunna. The umunna usually demand a goat
as big as a cow from potential suitors, and have been
known to abandon marriage ceremonies in the past because
of the size of the goat the suitor brought along. The
umunna hold a different view to the ewu
controversy, for them it is from the size of the goat
that it would be seen if a potential suitor or
future-son-in-law would be able to take care of their
daughter, it also determines if the future son-in-law
would remember his in-laws in the future. The umunnas
take the view that any future son-in-law that brings
a small goat, small hens (egbene) and small
tubers of yams (Mbaji) to his future in-laws is
already displaying signs of stinginess, and lack (owu
ite). Such in-laws are not desirable they insist.

It would be interesting to see what animal rights
activists would say to that, but before they even start
contemplating poking their noses into traditional
African matters, they should at least wait till I have
killed my own ewu nwadiana. I don’t want their
antics to lead to the prices of goats going over the
roof. Imagine an igbu nkita nwadiana scenario,
tufiakwa!

* *
* * *

Article index

Ada – A female
child

Alu – a
sacrilegious act or offence, also considered
an abomination.

Egbene – a
native male chicken/cock

Efulefu – a
worthless person in the eyes of the society,
one who has no regard for the elders or
culture.

Eke, Nkwo, Orie and Afor – native
market days in Igboland, also used to
calculate the Igbo native week.

Ewu – goat.

Ewu Umunna – a
special goat meant for the umunna.

Iga aka cha ibe unu – You shall be more
prosperous than all your father’s people.

Igbu ewu nwadiana
– a feast and ceremony where the nwadiana
performs the traditional rites of killing a
goat for his mum’s people, the killing of
the goat is symbolic and is meant to
strengthen the ties between the nwadiana and
his mum’s people.

Igba nkwu nwanyi
– the traditional Igbo marriage ceremony

Umunna – a
large group of kinsmen, they have so much
powers and have the last say in most family
issues such as marriages, land disputes etc.

Umuada –
daughters born into a particular community,
kindred or family but who have now married
outside but occasionally return to their
communities, they are a very powerful group
in Igbo societies.

Mbaji – Yam
tuber

Nwadiana –
means ‘the son of our daughter’, referring
to the male children of a woman born to a
particular family, village or kindred.

Nna Ochie – A
term for the maternal relatives of the
nwadiana

Nne Ochie - A
term for the maternal relatives of the
nwadiana

Nnukwu nwadiana/Oke Nwadiana
- a worthy nwadiana, a sign of acceptance
and regard in comparism to other nwadiana
who may be considered as efulefu.

Nkita - Dog

Obi – a small
outpost, just by the main entrance into a
compound, it is used as a reception area in
traditional Igbo societies. The Obi has
traditionally been built with mud with
thatched roofs, modern day Igbo men have
tried to maintain such ‘traditional’ look
even when constructing their village houses
with modern day building materials.

Oga adili gi nma – It shall be well with
you.

Oke ogo
– Also called nnukwu ogo, a
mark of respect and greeting, salutation for
a son-in-law held in high esteem by his
in-laws.

Oke Ada – A
salutation or adulation for a successful
daughter born into a particular family,
kindred or family.

Omenani –
refers to Igbo traditions, customs and
practices.

Owu ite – A
derogatory term used for someone suffering
poor fortunes.

The author is
grateful to his Nna Ochie and maternal cousin Ifeanyi
Nwosu (Aro Igbo) for providing the background
information to this article. January 2007.
info@uchenworah.com

Russell Simmons knows firsthand that
wealth is rooted in much more than the
stock
market. True wealth has more to do with
what's in your heart than what's in your
wallet. Using this knowledge, Simmons
became one of America's shrewdest
entrepreneurs, achieving a level of
success that most investors only dream
about. No matter how much material gain
he accumulated, he never stopped lending
a hand to those less fortunate. In
Super Rich, Simmons uses his rare
blend of spiritual savvy and
street-smart wisdom to offer a new
definition of wealth-and share timeless
principles for developing an unshakable
sense of self that can weather any
financial storm. As Simmons says, "Happy
can make you money, but money can't make
you happy."

Contrary to the
rosy picture of race embodied in Barack
Obama's political success and Oprah
Winfrey's financial success, legal
scholar Alexander argues vigorously and
persuasively that [w]e have not ended
racial caste in America; we have merely
redesigned it. Jim Crow and legal racial
segregation has been replaced by mass
incarceration as a system of social
control (More African Americans are
under correctional control today... than
were enslaved in 1850). Alexander
reviews American racial history from the
colonies to the Clinton administration,
delineating its transformation into the
war on drugs. She offers an acute
analysis of the effect of this mass
incarceration upon former inmates who
will be discriminated against, legally,
for the rest of their lives, denied
employment, housing, education, and
public benefits. Most provocatively, she
reveals how both the move toward
colorblindness and affirmative action
may blur our vision of injustice: most
Americans know and don't know the truth
about mass incarceration—but her
carefully researched, deeply engaging,
and thoroughly readable book should
change that.—Publishers
Weekly

Blacks in Hispanic Literature is a
collection of fourteen essays by scholars and
creative writers from Africa and the Americas.
Called one of two significant critical works on
Afro-Hispanic literature to appear in the late
1970s, it includes the pioneering studies of
Carter G. Woodson and
Valaurez B. Spratlin, published in the 1930s, as
well as the essays of scholars whose interpretations
were shaped by the Black aesthetic. The early
essays, primarily of the Black-as-subject in Spanish
medieval and Golden Age literature, provide an
historical context for understanding 20th-century
creative works by African-descended, Hispanophone
writers, such as Cuban
Nicolás Guillén and Ecuadorean poet, novelist,
and scholar
Adalberto Ortiz, whose essay analyzes the
significance of Negritude in Latin America. This
collaborative text set the tone for later
conferences in which writers and scholars worked
together to promote, disseminate, and critique the
literature of Spanish-speaking people of African
descent. . . . Cited by a
literary critic in 2004 as "the seminal study in the
field of Afro-Hispanic Literature . . . on which
most scholars in the field 'cut their teeth'."